Nearly snowbound
Something happened to me tonight that had never happened in my nine years at The Record. I missed the start of the game.
My hotel in Stoughton, Mass. is normally about a 25-minute drive North on Route 93 and through the Tip O'Neill Tunnel. But today's snowstorm brought traffic to a halt in this area for several hours. So, though I left the hotel at 2:40 p.m., I didn't walk in the press entrance until about 7:10 p.m. (That's 4 1/2 hours in the car for about a 20-mile trip). By the time I made it up to the press box, it was five minutes into the game. Fortunately, I didn't miss anything.
I saw a few cars that were stuck in the snow, but not as many as you would think for such terrible traffic. In a city like this that is used to snow, I really was surprised at how bad the traffic was. I had to get out of my car a couple of times to clean off the back window and the windshield wipers. There were several times when traffic didn't move for a minute or two, so I had plenty of time to do it.
Wow, glad you made it safe TG. Nice win by the boys tonight, good to see them get back on track. Nice weekend coming up at The Rock. Should be two big crowds
Posted by: Jason | December 13, 2007 at 11:23 PM
Glad to hear you made it to the game safely. It may have been a hassle, but at least nothing bad happened. I commute to school and my part-time job is driving for NAPA and I saw a ton of accidents on the roads today.
Posted by: Brian | December 13, 2007 at 11:24 PM
Glad you were safe, Tom. Sounds like reports of the terrible traffic weren't exaggerated at all.
Posted by: jules | December 13, 2007 at 11:50 PM
my roommate is from Mass and his mother said they got 10 inches or so. Catastrophe. Come back to civilization... it'll help
Posted by: Kevin | December 14, 2007 at 12:20 AM
Hey TG I read on a site that the devils have interest in Corey Perry, you hear anything?
Posted by: Jon | December 14, 2007 at 01:08 AM
My sister and little brother were supposed to go to the game (exam tomorrow so no game for me). She works about 45 minutes away. She left work at 1:30. Not only did she miss the game, she got home from work 5 minutes after it ended. My brother went alone and had a great time.
Posted by: Matt | December 14, 2007 at 01:19 AM
TG, you know what the official attendance was? I went and my estimate was less than 2,000. Didn't feel like being at an NHL game until the puck dropped.
Posted by: Uli_Heimer | December 14, 2007 at 02:02 AM
Ah nevermind, just read the previous post...too bad they don't count the ACTUAL number of people there. I was curious.
Posted by: Uli_Heimer | December 14, 2007 at 02:04 AM
NHL.com says that attendance was less than 1500.
Posted by: stoonbora | December 14, 2007 at 02:11 AM
I don't think it was less than 1,500. It seemed to be at least 5,000. When I got to the game late, there was a decent number of people coming into the building at that same time. It was definitely a late-arriving crowd because of the weather.
I didn't count the actual number, though.
Posted by: TG | December 14, 2007 at 06:55 AM
The Ducks actually want to sign Corey Perry to a long-term extension. People keep saying that Brian Burke needs to cap space to do it, but when Niedermayer retires this summer, he'll have plenty. He's not looking to move Perry at all.
Posted by: TG | December 14, 2007 at 07:03 AM
Glad you made it! Next time you come to Boston in a snowstorm, you might want to pick a hotel NORTH of town on the commuter rail line so you don't have to drive the Southeast Distressway. Did you at least enjoy the game??
Posted by: Shtikl | December 14, 2007 at 07:08 AM
Glad you made it there safely, sounds like the roads were awful. I just wanted to say that your blog might be the best thing that happened this season, it's by far the best source of Devils information out there. I have a question for you - I was reading an article on the Capitals and it mentioned that all the players have switched to jerseys made of the old fabric from last year. Have any Devils players done this? Thanks for all your great work!
Posted by: DevilsFan38 | December 14, 2007 at 07:47 AM
TG-
I can't tell you why Mass drivers act like they've never seen snow before. I moved up to Boston 5 years ago and at the slightest hint of snow or rain, traffic quickly slows to 10 mph at best. I wish I would've gone to the game, but with an exam Saturday morning, it might've been better to stay in and not take 8 hours to drive home from the game.
Posted by: Aaron | December 14, 2007 at 08:58 AM
Doc and Chico mentioned one of the linesmen almost missed the start of the game because of the mess the weather caused, so you were far from alone.
Posted by: DevilDog | December 14, 2007 at 04:37 PM